


Broken Beakers and Dead Air

by chopwood



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff in first chapter, Fluff is over in ch2, M/M, Sad, Typical Night Vale Weirdness, Worried Cecil, bamf!cecil, calming carlos, cecilos - Freeform, cecilos!fluff, cute cecilos, death in ch2, wtnv - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 22:04:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/945169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chopwood/pseuds/chopwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil receives a worrying phone call from an unknown source that sends him running to Carlos, his beautiful scientist. Carlos reassures him with fluffy times, but that happiness will not last. </p><p>First chapter is fluff/second is angst and sadness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. This is my first fic in a while, so I will try not to screw it up too much... Thanks for reading...

_*tap* *tap* *tap*_

Cecil sat relaxed in his chair, tapping his fingers with the beat of the music in the weather section of his radio show, his skin, which changed colors according to his emotions, was a shade just between purple and indigo, but with a slight tinge of pink. The song playing was one Carlos had recommended that he play. Of course, Cecil automatically loved it and commented fiercely on its perfection after hearing it for the first time. Carlos had chuckled at his enthusiasm earlier that day and went back to fillinf some test tubes and beakers and oh, whatever other science-y "stuff" that Cecil couldn't figure out. Not that he didn't try, but it seemed every time Carlos attempted to explain what he was doing, Cecil would sigh and stare blankly at him, muttering every so often about his perfect hair or gorgeous caramel voice or the way the light twinkled in his eyes when he talked about science. Although to be honest, neither of them minded that much. They adored spending time with each other and life was good.

Cecil finished up his show for the night. He stopped to chat with an intern he hadn't seen before, Chad or Peter or something, scurried past the station manager's office, which was glowing eerily red from under the door, and headed out into the warm, desert air. Breathing in, he gazed up into the void, innocently wondering about life and love and the complexities of local government and how there weren't that many babies in Night Vale and maybe Carlos would-

_*ring ring*_

Cecil derailed that train of thought, by reaching through the pockets of his tie-dye cargo pants for his phone.

"Gotcha." He grinned triumphantly. "Heeellllooo?" Still without caller ID, he casually answered the phone; the caller on the end unknown to him.

 _*shhhheehhhhshshshhhs*_ Static.

"Hell-O?" He said again, more imaptiently. "Is someone there? Is this you again, STEVE?"

"it is known" A genderless, quiet, yet vaguely menacing voice came through the phone.

"What?" Cecil asked quietly. He trembled slightly. "This isn't funny, whoever you are."

"he will die tonight...." the voice paused; a rustling sound like papers was in the background. "er. possibly tomorrow. he knows too much"

The line went dead.

 

 _He knows too much. He will die tonight._ The words echoed in the silence of the night. Cecil couldn't help, but let the panic in his mind wander to thought of a certain, quite intelligent, attractive scientist that he has come to care about recently. Dread sank into his stomach and he turned a sickly shade of greenish-black, a color that reminded one of both vomit and death, but also the underside of a child's shoes after they were playing out in the sludge that comes from the Absolutely-Not-A-Factory Building at the outskirts of town.

_*ring ring*_

_  
_"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!" Cecil shouted into the phone. However, instead of the cold voice or static he expected, it was the warm, concerned voice of Carlos that replied.

"Cecil? Are you okay? Should I call back?"

"Oh, Carlos. Sweet, perfect, wonderful Carlos. No, no. I wasn't expecting you. I'm sorry...Oh! Carlos! You're okay! I was worried, for a moment. I thought maybe something happened to you, or you left, or died, I mean I hoped that you were okay, I got this call and someone said someone would die tonight or tomorrow, they weren't particularly sure about the exact date, but I thought it could be you because-"

"Cecil. Take a breath. I'm okay, mi amor. I'm just fine." Carlos interrupted the babbling man, hoping to give him a chance to breathe and calm down a bit. Cecil took some slow breaths and smiled. Carlos could imagine his chameleon-like companion returning to his normal pinkish-purple tint and fluttering slightly above the ground like he does when he is cheerful.

"Okay. I'm good." Cecil answered after a few moments. "So, what were you calling about, my dear?

Carlos paused a moment, obviously trying to regain his thoughts.

"Oh! Yes! Cecil, I need you to come by my lab right away! I have been working on something and things have started to come together! I think I am on the verge of discovering something!" His voice lowered to a whisper. " _Something that may change Night Vale forever._ "

Before Cecil could reply, a loud crash and beeping alarm sounded on Carlos' end and he shouted a good-bye and hung up the phone.

 _Oh dear. What could my perfect Carlos have discovered?_ Cecil worried over his science getting him into trouble, but what if the Sheriff's Secret Police don't like what Carlos has discovered? Cecil has watched as people were taken, never to be seen again, and has had to announce their non-existence to the town the next day. Cecil ran off in the direction of Carlos' lab, determined to do whatever he needed to to make sure his Carlos always existed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"Carlos! Carlos, I'm here! Open the door! Please!" Cecil was, once again a sickly shade of greenish-black, and he was no longer fluttering, care-free, a few inches off the ground. No, he was planted firmly on the cement. If anything, he was sinking into the ground even more with the weight of his worries.

"CARLOS, PLEASE! CA-" The door opened, revealing Carlos, in all his still-alive-and-breathing-and-perfectly-existent glory. Cecil leapt forward and held him tight and Carlos, knowing that Cecil often worries for him, in excess, lets his imagination run a bit wild, held him back even tighter. Carlos wouldn't let him go until Cecil returned to a less greenish-black color.

Once he was a nice shade of indigo, Carlos kissed Cecil on the nose and let his hair be ruffled by tattooed hands.

"Cecil? I wanted to show you something." Carlos smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a wrinkled, green bandana. "But I need you to put this on first."

Cecil's eyebrows furrowed. "What?" He sighed and giggled at the other's face, reaching for the bandana. "Well, okay..."

"Here, let me." Carlos reached around his blushing companion to tie the bandana over his eyes, making sure to carefully cover the third eye on Cecil's forehead. Cecil laughed.

"You know that I only see other parts of the town throught that thing, and it's when I'm at work." Cecil smiled and reached his hand out to find the warm hand's his fit in perfectly. Fingers intertwined, Carlos led them into the lab, pausing every so often so that Cecil could find his footing.

"Okay, okay... just wait...riiiighhht....er.... Here!" Cecil heard Carlos stepping quickly away from him. There was a faint clicking sound, followed by some muttered swearing, more clicking and then a quiet "yes!". Carlos returned to Cecil's side.

"Ready. Go ahead and take it off, love."

Cecil removed the blindfold slowly and blinked, taking in the candle-lit room. Two lab stools sat beside one of Carlos' lab desks, usually covered in clutter. However tonight, on the desk laid a white tablecloth, two candle and two plates of food. Cecil turned to Carlos, who stood grinning nervously.

"Do you like it? I mean...it's not too much? Not enough? Oh, you don't like it, do you? I cooked it all myself, but I wasn't really sure wha-" Cecil really did love it when kissing interrupted their conversations, of course, Carlos was pretty adorable when he was slightly frazzled.

"It's perfect."

He smiled and they walked over to the table.

 

 

* * *

 

 

They never had silent meals, Cecil and Carlos. They were constantly laughing or talking or sometimes laughing and talking while simultaneously trying to pull Cecil off the ceiling because they had been having such a good time, neither of them noticed that he had fluttered a bit higher than usual. He had done that enough that Carlos had considered a chair with a seat belt, but decided against it because it was quite a bit more fun to be able to pull Cecil into his arms and hold him close, which was also perfectly wonderful to Cecil as well.

They finished their dinner and Carlos put on a CD. The couple danced together until the player reached the last song and then a bit more as they both decided that it wasn't time to let each other go yet, so they hummed another song while swaying together in the glowing light of the candles and the faint glow of Cecil's tattoos.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

 

Cecil fell asleep on Carlos' sofa that night, not alone, but wrapped up in the large, fuzzy arms of his favorite scientist.

 


	2. One Less

Cecil awoke the next morning to the sound of breaking glass and a loud shout. He blinked in the sunlight streaming in through the window of the break room of Carlos' lab. A smile spread across his face as he recalled the events of the night before. When he realized he was alone on the sofa, he glanced at his watch and realized that it was almost one. No surprise that he had slept in though; Cecil usually spent time sleeping since he worked late most times. Cecil stood up and stretched, ran a bright pink hand through his hair, and set off to find his clumsy, perfect scientist who was still loudly muttering curses somewhere in his lab.

"Cecil? Cecil, are you awake yet?" His warm, oaky voice echoed through the hallway. Cecil smiled.

"Yes, love. Where are you?" Cecil could hear where he was. He had gotten quite good at echolocation after the time that Night Vale zoo had a psychic dolphin exhibit. Carlos was always pretty easy to find. He was a bit clumsy.

"In the main lab!" He shouted. "Cecil, you won't believe this! Come here!"

Cecil walked, or rather floated gently, into the lab to see Carlos flitting about, papers flung over every surface, beakers and test tubes filled with unknown liquids. His lab coat was stained with colorful residues creating a gruesome rainbow on the white fabric. He grinned at the levitating, pink man next to him and pulled him down to his level for a kiss.

"Morning." Cecil breathed into Carlos scruffy neck. He ran his fingers through Carlos' soft black hair before moving away to examine his work.

"So, what is it you wanted to show me?" Cecil peered into a beaker of bubbling green goo and grimaced. Carlos jumped up, regaining his previous excitement.

"Ah, yes! Cecil." He whispered stepping closer so he could speak quietly. "As you know, I've been looking into the science of this town since I arrived. I was beginning to suspect that this town was just a whole lot of innocent supernatural happenings, nothing malicious, just generally strange. Y'know?" Cecil nodded and smiled, even though he didn't really know what Carlos was talking about and he was getting a bad feeling deep in his stomach. His body began to lose the bright pink hue that he had woken with.

"Well, the other day, I found something hidden in one of the trees. Remember when we examined them on our first date? I went back because I found something in the data that you collected that just didn't fit with typical tree behavior. I went back and they were emitting some sort of gas into the air... and not like oxygen gas like they are supposed to, so I thought that was pretty odd. So, I collected some of the gas and I've been trying to figure out what it was and I finally got it! The components of it, Cecil! They aren't natural! I think the govern-"

The door to the lab was smashed open. Cecil gasped and smashed to the ground; his skin now a sickly pale white.

"No." Cecil couldn't move. Carlos stepped in front of him, knowing he couldn't do much to protect him, but it made him feel a little better. A flood of shady, black figures rushed in the lab.

"i told you he knew too much." The same genderless voice seeped out of the figure that had rushed towards them. "it is time carlos time to go"

"NO! You will not take him! Carlos will stay! He-is-MINE." Cecil pulled his dark scientist behind him, his feet smashing into the ground; skin red and bright with his anger. The tentacles that tattooed his arms broke out of their dermal home with a repulsive schlup and held back the dark shadows from reaching his love. Cecil's face darkened and he narrowed his eyes, taking in his new opponents.

"cecil you know how this will play out you are protecting no one there is no carlos and there never was step down NOW" The shadows passed straight through his purple tentacles and wrapped around the newly, non-existent scientist.

"Let go! Cecil! Don't let them find my research! You have to tell the town!" Cecil panicked, realizing that he could do nothing to stop them from taking Carlos, his Carlos, perfect, beautiful, Carlos. The scientist fought and punched at the gaseous figure to no avail. Their eyes met as the shadows dragged him towards the door.

"Cecil." Carlos breathed out, tears streaking down his dark cheeks. "I-" The shadow holding the lab coat-clad man jabbed a syringe into his neck, the same neck Cecil had kissed the night before, the neck that held up his perfect head; the head that now hung limp and lifeless in the shadow's limbs. Cecil fell to the ground, a color blacker than the darkness of the void in the sky of Night Vale, a black so dark it sucked all the light from the area. Cecil's sable form began to crack into the tile floor, sinking slowing into the cement foundation. The shadows holding the corpse of the non-existent scientist backed away, now trembling, as all the agents in the Sheriff's Secret Police had heard of Cecil Palmer and the things he was able to do. Not once did they expect such an upstanding Night Vale citizen to rebel for some scientist.

Cecil shot up into the air. His obsidian tentacles shot out, smashing glass containers, flinging Carlos' life work into the air. Cecil's mouth fell open to emit the most heart-wrenching anguished cry that any person had witnessed. It was like a puppy run over by a spiked steamroller and boiled in acid and it was both terrifying and most disturbing grievous sound ever.

The light around this event were pulled out of the air, stars went out in the sky, the sun disappeared; although the noise was deafening, Night Vale residents knew better than to leave their homes. The rest of the town was silent. Somehow they knew, and they grieved with Cecil. But Cecil was nowhere near being finished.

The shadows trembled, they had dropped the body on the floor and were attempting to flee the building.

"NO! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HERE! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE!" They froze at the powerful words coming from the dark form radiating energy in the center of the room, but then sank to the floor and whisked away out an open window. The dark beast forced through the plaster and glass of the wall, splintering the pieces onto the dusty ground outside. He froze.

" **Hello, Cecil. Please. Sit.** " A small chair was placed beside the wreckage of the lab. Cecil noticed two men, covered head to toe in velvet suits and gas masks, march into the door and seconds later, push a stretcher with a full body bag out the door. Cecil sat. He held his aching head in his hands.

"No. No, no, no, no." He gasped and choked out a sob. He looked up, pleadingly. "Please. I don't want to forget him. Please."

 **The Sheriff** sighed.

" **Cecil. You know this isn't how we do things in Night Vale. You will forget him, just like you have before, and will do again. Carlos the scientist is not real. You will annouce his non-existence on your radio show and then you will not speak of this again.** " Cecil whimpered. He was losing the dark void color that has painted his despair across the remains of Carlos' lab. The chair he sat in creaked under the weight of his grief. **The Sheriff** held out a hand.

" **Cecil, come with me. I will help you. I will make it all better. Night Vale is a good town. We are not here to harm you. We are here to help.** "

"But, I just... I don't want to forget him... I- I...love him." Cecil's eyes looked up at **The Sheriff** , careful to avoid the eyes, hoping that there was some way he could keep just one memory of his Carlos. "Please."

 **The Sheriff** rolled his eyes and called over a few of the velvet suited men. They pulled the wearied frame of the radio announcer out of the chair. Cecil had somehow lost all the fight he had left. He presumed the shock had set in; what he didn't realize was that the chair he sat in was rigged with tranquilizers powerful enough to take down a full grown T-Rex, which it had before. They carried Cecil to the back of an inconspicuous ice cream truck, strapped Cecil into the chair and shut the doors.

" **Begin the re-education and then bring him back to the radio station.** " **The Sheriff** walked over to a waiting towncar and was driven away. The sound of Cecil's screams reverberated from the truck. They slowly changed from screams to sobs to whimpering and then there was nothing. The velvet suited men marched into the truck and drove to the Night Vale Community Radio Station.

 

* * *

 

  
"...and that's why vegetables should never be eaten and you should always keep your pet wildebeests away from your bathrooms.'

'In other news, the Sheriff's Secret Police released a statement today that we have one less person in the population than the census previously stated. The mistake was discovered by city clerk, Beth Stensen, who found an extraneous member in the town's personal inventory. When she contacted the Sheriff's Secret Police about it, they assured her that the member was and never had been in Night Vale and absolutely never existed. The name of this extraneous person was none other than Carlos and he was listed as being a scientist. Listeners, I think I speak for all of us when I say that scientists are absolutely not real, and obviously someone was trying to make up a fake person. I mean...c'mon... Carlos? What kind of name is that? Carlos.... CAR-los... Ca-R-lo-ssss.... It sort of...rolls off the tongue....Carlos..." Cecil rubbed his eyes... Flashes of memories peirced his consciousness. He groaned. Cecil rubbed his eyes, but the visions of a black-haired, dark man would not go away.

The radio was silent. All of Night Vale paused, as though they were waiting, as though they knew.

There was a knock at the door. The new intern, Chad or Peter or Alfred, poked his head in.

"Cecil, are you okay? Is the radio transmitter working?" Cecil was no longer sitting, cheerful and fuschia in his spinning chair. He was a revolting greenish-black; sitting clutching his head under his desk, muttering something incomprehensible.

"Cecil!?" The intern ran over to Cecil. The radio host was unresponsive to his movement, so the Chad or Peter or Alfred reached out to nudge him on the shoulder.

"Don't." Cecil's eyes shot up at the approach. They were cold, unfeeling; any warm, happy emotion Cecil had before had vanished. The tentacles tattooed on his arms peeled off and pushed the frightened young man away and Cecil stood and walked out into the main office, past the station management's door; which was, for once, unusually dark; and out the front door.

The dark, black void replaced Cecil's skin once again and the light from the stars was sucked straight from the sky. The Sheriff's Secret Police were waiting outside the radio station. They figured the re-education wouldn't stick and they were listening intently to the radio show.

 **The Sheriff** stepped forward, confident in his approach of the emotionally compromised creature also known as the Voice of Night Vale.

" **Take a seat, Cecil.** " He gestured to the same chair from before. The dark creature laughed, a laugh that seeped from your nightmares; one that stuck in the very pit of your fears until you died. Cecil stepped forward, crushing the chair in his ebony tentacles.

"Not falling for that again, Sheriff." He sneered, spitting out the last word like it was the most disgusting swear word. **The Sheriff** wasn't fazed.

" **Now Cecil, THIS-IS-NOT-HOW-we behave here. You are going to forget and move on. That scientist was not worth all this.** " Cecil could feel the words burning in his mind. The influence of **The Sheriff** was always difficult to rebel against. Cecil never heard of anyone who had. At least, anyone who still existed.

"It won't work this time. I'm not playing your games anymore. I'm done. You're done. This town is done. There is nothing left without Carlos. This town is nothing." An energy surged through the air with Cecil's words. **The Sheriff** let his mask drop for a moment; the fear evident in his eyes. He then walked quickly to his car and drove away.

The dark void that consumed Cecil grew, his voice emitting from the air, chanting words unknown to any human being or creature, except of course the noble moose which would tell you, if you asked nicely, that Cecil was condemning Night Vale to eternity in the dark void. Of course, you would have to speak moose to ask them and it is a very difficult language to learn. It was offered only once at the Night Vale community center and Cecil was the only Night Vale citizen to attend.

Cecil's chanted words surrounded the doomed town. The resident's stayed in their house, knowing better than to leave to see what was going on. Instead, they were glued to their radios, attempting to hear the noises in the background from the radio station.

*static*

The air was dead silent.

 

* * *

 

"           Today in world news, a small area in the Southern United States has disappeared. One man that we interviewed stated that he was just driving along the road and then suddenly there was just a huge black hole. Experts are baffled by the appearance of a black hole, as usually they only appear after a star dies and according to science, there weren't any stars in the area. Let's cut to Deanne, who is on the scene."

"Thanks, Charlie. As you can see behind me, the military has quaratined the area surrounding the black hole. It is still unknown as to the cause, but certain military scientists suspect that a previously studied area in the vicinity, locally known as Radon Canyon, was holding radioactive remains from nuclear activity. It is presumed that somehow, the nuclear waste turned into a black hole and ate up the whole area. I spoke to some residents from the surrounding towns and they said that they couldn't remember anything ever being there, so no one should really worry. So, I suppose that's good."

"          Wow. Interesting stuff, Deanne. I understand that there has been some radio activity intercepted?"

"Yes. That's correct, Charlie. According to the military scientists, they have intercepted a radio signal emitted by the black hole which repeats the same message over and over. The message is the morse code sequence, "-.-. .- .-. .-.. --- ..." which translates to C.A.R.L.O.S.. The scientists are still attempting to figure out the significance of this sequence and if the black hole is going to attempt a terrorist attack or take over the country using a clever ploy like McDonald's or Wal-Mart. Back to you, Charlie."

"Ha-ha. Alright, thanks, Deanne. We will be sure to keep all our viewers updated with this black hole story, but up next... puppies, can they kill your children? Find out after the commercial."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. That's my first Cecilos fic... Hope it was okay. Leave a comment or a kudos if you liked it. :)


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